ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Commerce & Industry
Industry & Government have to partner to ensure that we reach our $5 trillion target by 2025, says Shri Piyush Goyal at ICC’s Annual Plenary Session
Minister of Commerce & Industry Shri Piyush Goyal today addressed Indian Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Plenary Session via video conferencing.
In his address, Shri Piyush Goyal acknowledged very important role played by the Indian Chamber of Commerce  to tide over the COVID- pandemic related hardships, to ensure orderly handling of the pandemic and get back to country’s original agenda of achieving $5 trillion economy by 2025.
Shri Goyal said that COVID should be seen an opportunity for all of us, to relook at our businesses, processes, our way of working; relook at our quality & productivity standards. “This nation is proud of each & every one of you. This nation will always remember the way Indian industry rose to the occasion, the way it expanded capacities to start manufacturing PPEs, masks, ventilators in India.”, he added.
‘Today, the world is looking upon India as a trusted partner. The world is wanting a resilient global supply chain & it is our duty to take this opportunity, make ‘Aatmarnirbhar Bharat’ our mantra, inspiration & goal’, said Shri Piyush Goyal. “We must leverage our millions of skilled young boys & girls to become the factory of the world, just like we are today recognised as the pharmacy of the world. Industry & Government have to partner to ensure that we reach our $5 trillion target by 2025”, Shri Goyal added further.
Shri Goyal asked industry leaders that when we celebrate the 100 years of independence in 2047, can we all not resolve to be the No.1 economy of the world. People-centric policies, positive outlook & pro-active action that PM Shri Narendra Modi has demonstrated, both, for a better life for the poor & to encourage honest business practices, can ensure sustainable development & lead us to transformation, said Shri Goyal.
Shri Goyal added that Let us all work to ensure that we can meet the needs of 135 crore Indians, needs for good quality healthcare, good education, decent life.
Ministry of Civil Aviation
Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia writes to Jharkhand CM for strengthening aviation Infrastructure in state
Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Union Minister of Civil Aviation, has written to Shri Hemant Soren, Chief Minister of Jharkhand, requesting his personal intervention in expediting the matters for strengthening of aviation infrastructure in the state. AAI has embarked upon development and expansion of airports in the country at a cost of Rs. 20,000 Crore in the next 4-5 years in order to meet the growing passenger demand in the country.
Shri Scindia has drawn attention of Shri Hemant Soren on following issues that are impacting the implementation of various projects pertaining to aviation sector in Jharkhand:
- For upgradation and development of Ranchi Airport, AAI has projected a land requirement of 506.4 acres, which is yet to be handed over to AAI.
- Similarly, AAI requires 545 acres of land for development of Dhalbhumgarh airport to make it suitable for operations of A-320 type of aircraft.
- The State Government has to complete the approach road to Deoghar airport, which is otherwise almost ready to be operationalized.
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Ministry of Finance
CBDT launches e-portal for filing complaints regarding tax evasion/Benami Properties/Foreign Undisclosed Assets
Taking another step towards e-governance and encouraging participation of citizen as stakeholders in curbing tax evasion, the Central Board of Direct Taxes has launched an automated dedicated e-portal on the e-filing website of the Department to receive and process complaints of tax evasion, foreign undisclosed assets as well as complaints regarding benami properties.
The public can now file a Tax Evasion Petition through a link on the e-filing website of the Department https://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/ under the head “File complaint of tax evasion/undisclosed foreign asset/ benami property”. The facility allows for filing of complaints by persons who are existing PAN/Aadhaar holders as well as for persons having no PAN /Aadhaar. After an OTP based validation process , the complainant can file complaints in respect of violations of the Income- tax Act, 1961, Black Money  Imposition of Tax Act, 1961 and Prevention of Benami Transactions Act  in three separate forms designed for the purpose.
Upon successful filing of the complaint, the Department will allot a unique number to each complaint and the complainant would be able to view the status of the complaint on the Department’s website. This e-portal is yet another initiative of the Income Tax Department to bring about enhanced ease of interaction with the Department, while strengthening its resolve towards e-governance.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
COVID-19 UPDATE
220.65 cr Total Vaccine doses  have been administered so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive
6,553 doses administered in last 24 hours
India's Active caseload currently stands at 15,208
Active cases stand at 0.03%
Recovery Rate currently at 98.78%
1,390 recoveries in the last 24 hours increases Total Recoveries to 4,41,69,711
3,095 new cases recorded in the last 24 hours
Daily positivity rate 
Weekly Positivity Rate 
92.15 cr Total Tests conducted so far; 1,18,694 tests conducted in the last 24 hours
Ministry of Defence
Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh green signals writing of India’s border history
Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh has given approval for initiating work of writing the history of the country’s borders. Raksha Mantri held a meeting with eminent personalities of Indian Council of Historical Research and officials of Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Directorate General of Archives, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Defence, here on September 17, 2019. It is proposed that the work will cover various aspects of borders including tracing its making; making & unmaking and shifting of borders; role of security forces; role of borderland people encompassing their ethnicity, culture and socio-economic aspects of their lives. The project is expected to be completed within two years.
Shri Rajnath Singh emphasised the importance of writing history of Indian borders reiterating that it would provide better understanding of the borders to the public in general and officials in particular. Raksha Mantri welcomed various suggestions and directed officials to consult experts on source material, broad contours, methodology and action plan required for completing this project expeditiously.
It is a first-of-its-kind project to make people aware of national borders and people living in the border regions.
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Ministry of Education
Submission of performance Appraisal Report of TEIs for the academic session 2020-21
High Court of Delhi in W.P. No. 11304/2019 pronounced the Judgment on 27.5.2021 upholding the decision of NCTE requiring the Teacher Educational Institutions  to file Performance Appraisal Report . Based on the above judgment, PAR is now required to be mandatorily submitted by all TEIs online on the NCTE portal for the academic session 2020—2021, leading to better monitoring, transparency and improvement in the quality and service delivery in teacher education sector. Timelines to submit online PAR shall be from 30.09.2021 to 29.01.2022 .
The National Council for Teacher Education is a statutory body that came into existence in pursuance of the National Council for Teacher Education Act. 1993  on the 17th August, 1995 to achieve planned and coordinated development of the teacher education system throughout the country, the regulation and proper maintenance of Norms and Standards in the teacher education system and for matters connected therewith.
Ministry of Commerce & Industry
Damage to Coffee and Spices Plantations
The Coffee Board’s Extension teams carried out preliminary surveys  in the calamity affected areas both in Karnataka and Kerala states to estimate the extent of damage to the coffee plantations due to flooding/landslides and damage to standing coffee crop due to premature fruit drop and fungal diseases. As per the preliminary assessment in Karnataka state, out of the total bearing area of 2, 26,244 hectares, an area of about 97,365 hectares has been reported to be affected by crop loss of more than 33% and an area of 620 hectares is reported to have been affected by landslides/floods. In Kerala an area of about 850 hectares has been reported to be affected with crop loss of more than 33% and about an area of 16 hectares of plantations are reported to have been affected by landslides/floods.
As per the assessment made by the Directorate of Horticulture, Karnataka, 11502 hectares of black pepper, 3184 hectares of ginger, 573 hectares of turmeric and 25891 hectares of chilli have been severely affected in the State due to heavy rain this year with an estimated crop loss of more than 33%.
In Kerala, the Department of Agriculture Development and Farmers Welfare made an assessment of crop damages due to heavy rain. Crop-wise details of spices completely damaged are given below:
|
|
Crop
|
|
Pepper
|
|
Nutmeg
|
|
Ginger
|
|
Cardamom
|
|
Clove
|
|
Total
|
|
Area affected 
|
|
40.23
|
|
88.67
|
|
13.25
|
|
25.08
|
|
0.56
|
|
167.79
|
|
Farmers affected

|
|
3074
|
|
3542
|
|
456
|
|
530
|
|
56
|
|
7658
Source: Directorate of Arecanut and Spices Development
Further, the Spices Board had assisted the State Government of Karnataka in the assessment of the damage caused to the cardamom plantations due to heavy rains in the Coorg district. As per the report, about 1800 hectares of cardamom plantations have been affected with a crop loss of more than 33%. The report has been submitted to the State Government.
Under the extant provisions of State Disaster Response Fund  and National Disaster Response Fund , relief in the form of input subsidy for agriculture crops, horticulture crops, annual plantation crops, perennial crops and sericulture is provided when crops loss is 33% and above. For the perennial crops, norms of assistance are Rs. 18,000 per hectare.
The Coffee Board, Spices Board and Directorate of Arecanut and Spices Development have not constituted any Task Force during the current year to assess the extent of damage due to natural calamity.
Coffee and Spices need a minimum of 3-4 years for economic yield after planting.
This information was given by the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Finance
Government extends Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme by one month
Loans of more than Rs. 2 lakh crore sanctioned under ECLGS
The Union Government has extended the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme  by one month till November 30th, 2020, or till such time that an amount of Rs. 3 lakh crore is sanctioned under the Scheme, whichever is earlier, in view of the opening up of various sectors in the economy and the expected increase in demand during the ongoing festive season. This extension will provide a further opportunity to such borrowers who have not availed of the Scheme so far, to obtain credit under the Scheme.
The ECLGS was announced as part of the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Package  to provide fully guaranteed and collateral free additional credit to MSMEs, business enterprises, individual loans for business purposes and MUDRA borrowers, to the extent of 20 per cent of their credit outstanding as on 29.2.2020. Borrowers with credit outstanding up to Rs. 50 crore as on 29.2.2020, and with an annual turnover of up to Rs. 250 crore are eligible under the Scheme. Interest rates under the Scheme are capped at 9.25 per cent for Banks and FIs, and 14 per cent for NBFCs. Tenor of loans provided under the Scheme is four years, including a moratorium of one year on principle repayment.
As per data uploaded by Member Lending Institutions on the ECLGS portal, an amount of Rs. 2.03 lakh crore has been sanctioned under the Scheme to 60.67 lakh borrowers so far, while an amount of Rs. 1.48 lakh crore has been disbursed.
Ministry of Finance
Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman leads Indian delegation in 10th Round of Ministerial UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue
Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman led the Indian Delegation in the 10th Round of Ministerial UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue , held here today in virtually through video conferencing.
The Indian delegation included representatives from Ministry of Finance, Reserve Bank of India and Securities and Exchange Board of India . The UK delegation was led by Chancellor of Exchequer, Mr Rishi Sunak, with representatives from Her Majesty’s Treasury, Bank of England and Financial Conduct Authority .
India and the United Kingdom enjoy close bilateral relations in diverse areas.India-UK economic ties are important as together they are two of the world’s top seven economies with a combined GDP of over $5 trillion. India-UK trade has more than doubled since the first EFD in 2007, with bilateral investment supporting over half a million jobs across both countries
The Dialogue, inter alia, covered sharing of experiences on corona virus response, to enable both countries to be enriched through experiences of the other and collaboration in the G20 on finance track matters, including through G20 Framework Working Group and Debt Service Suspension Initiative . Issues related to international tax agenda including development of inclusive consensus based solution on the taxation of digital economy was discussed. Deliberations on furthering of Financial Services Collaboration with special emphasis on Fin-Tech and GIFT City, establishment of an annual India-UK Financial Market Dialogue and measures underway to reform financial markets were also discussed. Infrastructure development and promotion of Sustainable Finance were also discussed with a focus on green finance. It was also decided to establish bilateral India- UK Sustainable Finance Forum. Private sector initiatives under India-UK Financial Partnership  and India-UK Sustainable Finance Working Group were welcomed. Hon’ble Finance Minister highlighted that the work being done by India’s National Infrastructure Pipeline  and the City of London to ensure flows of sustainable finance.
The Dialogue concluded with the formal signing of the Joint Statement by Finance Minister of India Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman and Chancellor of Exchequer of United Kingdom Mr Rishi Sunak.
Please click here to access the Joint Statement of the 10th UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue.
Prime Minister's Office
PM to address farmers during National Conclave on Natural Farming on 16th December
Summit to focus on natural farming and providing information to farmers on its benefits
In line with PM’s vision for farmer welfare and towards boosting their income
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will address the farmers during the valedictory session of the National Conclave on Natural Farming on 16th December 2021 at 11 AM in Anand, Gujarat via video conferencing. Farmers will be provided with all requisite information detailing the benefits of adopting natural farming methods.
The government has been driven by the Prime Minister's vision for farmer welfare. It has been committed towards ensuring an increase in productivity, so that farmers are able to maximize their agri-potential. Government has initiated several measures to transform agriculture and increase farmers’ income. Efforts are underway to promote and support initiatives leading to sustainability of the system, cost reduction, market access and better value realization to farmers.
Zero Budget Natural Farming is a promising tool to minimize the dependence of farmers on purchased inputs, and reduces the cost of agriculture by relying on traditional field based technologies which lead to improved soil health. Desi cow, its dung and urine play an important role from which various inputs are made on the farm and provide necessary nutrients to soil. Other traditional practices such mulching the soil with biomass or keeping the soil covered with green cover round the year, even in the very low water availability situations, ensure sustained productivity even from the first year of adoption.
To emphasize on such strategies and to deliver the message to farmers across the country, the Government of Gujarat is organizing the National Conclave on Natural Farming. The three day Summit is being organized from 14th to 16th December, 2021. It is being attended by over 5000 farmers who will be present in the Summit, apart from farmers being connecting Live through Central Institutes of ICAR, Krishi Vigyan Kendras and ATMA  network in the States.
Ministry of Labour & Employment
35.7 lakh vacancies registered on National Career Service  in year 2022-23
More than 1 million employers joined NCS
Ministry of Labour and Employment is implementing the National Career Service  Project as a Mission Mode Project for transformation of the National Employment Service to provide a variety of employment related services like job matching, career counselling, vocational guidance, information on skill development courses, internships etc. The services under NCS are available online which was dedicated to the Nation by The Prime Minister in 2015.
The NCS portal has registered highest vacancies during the year 2022-23 since its launch in July, 2015. Around 35.7 lakhs vacancies have been reported by employers on NCS during the year 2022-23 compared to around 13 lakh vacancies in 2021-22. The reporting of vacancies on NCS in 2022-23 has shown an increase of 175% compared to 2021-22. Further, year 2022-23 also witnessed highest active vacancies count of more than 5.3 lakh on 30th October, 2022.
The increase in vacancy posting on NCS has been observed across all the sectors. The Finance and Insurance sector has shown a phenomenal growth of more than 800% and registered 20.8 lakh vacancies during 2022-23 compared to 2.2 lakh vacancies in 2021-22. The vacancies in the Operations and Support sector has also registered a growth of 400% with 3.75 lakh vacancies reported in 2022-23 against 76 thousand in 2021-22. The vacancies in the sectors, viz., ‘Hotels, Food Service and Catering’, ‘Manufacturing’, ‘Health’, ‘Education’, etc. also significantly increased during the year 2022-23 over the previous year.
During the year 2022-23, the NCS portal has also achieved a milestone of registering more than 1 million employers since its launch. Out of total registered employers, more than 8 lakhs employers were registered in the year 2022-23. The maximum registrations of employers were from the Service sector  which was followed by the employers from the manufacturing sector.
All the services available on the NCS portal are free of cost for all stake holders including jobseekers, employers, training providers and placement organizations.
Prime Minister's Office
PM and President Putin exchange greetings
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin of Russia exchanged warm greetings for the Year 2019 in a telephonic conversation today. The Prime Minister also wished the President and Russian people on the occasion of Christmas, which is being celebrated in Russia today.
The two leaders appreciated the major milestones achieved in the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership between the two countries in the past year. Recalling successful wide-ranging discussions, inter alia, in Sochi in May and during President Putin's visit to New Delhi in October for the Annual Summit, the leaders agreed to maintain the momentum in the bilateral relations. President Putin reiterated the invitation to the annual Eastern Economic Forum in September 2019.
Bilateral cooperation in the key areas including defence and counter-terrorism was also discussed.
Both leaders agreed that India-Russia cooperation plays an important role in the global multilateral order. Both countries, therefore, will continue their close consultations in the United Nations, the BRICS, the SCO and other multilateral organizations.
Ministry of Defence
RECRUITMENT IN DEFENCE FORCES
Four Army recruitment rallies have been carried out in Recruiting Year 2021-22. However, due to COVID-19 pandemic, all recruitment activities have presently been put on hold by the Indian Army.
The COVID-19 pandemic had an adverse impact on recruitment of officers and sailors into the Indian Navy resulting in ‘Batch Holiday’ for recruitment of sailors and delay in commencement of training for officer trainees since mid-2020. There are no pending recruitment examinations conducted by Indian Navy whose result declaration is held up.
There are no inductions pending in the officer cadre of the Indian Air Force . Provisional Select List  for enrolment of Airmen into IAF intake 02/21 was published on 31st May 2021. Scheduled Test for Airmen Recruitment  01/21 for intake 01/22 has also been completed on 18th July 2021.
All recruitment rallies planned by Area Recruitment Offices/Zonal Recruitment Offices of Indian Army have been suspended till further orders due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the country, including Rajasthan, till the situation improves.
This information was given by Raksha Rajya Mantri Shri Ajay Bhatt in a written reply to Shri Hanuman Beniwal in Lok Sabha on February 04, 2022.
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Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
ACC Approvals
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the following:
 Designating Shri Hasmukh Adhia, IAS , Secretary, Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance as Finance Secretary.
 Appointment of Shri Binoy Kumar, IAS , DGS&D as Special Secretary, Logistics, Department of Commerce against the newly created post.